Certainly, concepts of infinity have provoked much 'metaphysical' reflection in terms of our place in the universe, our finitude, our relation to something greater. And it was precisely this that Wittgenstein warned philosophers about. He had a strong mystical streak himself, indicated by his love of Tolstoy, but he thought it completely wrong to approach this dimension through metaphysical commentary on mathematical treatments of the infinite. All that was gas.

I just finished watching Into Great Silence. It was a Christmas gift, and I had no particular expectations. It's really, really excellent, maybe one of my favorite films now. It seems strange to say it, but I feel like in some ways this is the film that 2001: A Space Odyssey could have been, maybe should have been. And I mean that not just in style and tone, but also in theme, and in the way they're related. It's odd in a way that 2001 would be the thing that I think of after watching this, but having thought of it, it seems true somehow.